The Unknown Child
by SupernaturallyKay
Summary: REPOST! Bruce is having a recurring nightmare that is troubling him and concerning his friends. Rated for upcoming chapters. Please read and review.
1. Sweet Dreams

_Hi. I'm back. I know I've posted this story before, but I recently found it shoved in my desk and I re-read it and hated it, so I decided to fix it and repost it. I hope you like the changes I have made. _

_Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own Batman and related characters. They belong to Bob Kane, WB, DC Comics, etc.

One

Sweet Dreams

It was a cold, dark night; the kind of night that no one would want to spend alone. The full moon rose high and shined brightly upon the dark heart of Gotham City. The wind quietly pushed scattered clouds across the moon's piercing path, while chilling the October air.

Standing in solitude, Wayne Manor looked down from its hill in the Palisades. The world in which it was a part of was not a peaceful, happy and prosperous one. Although Wayne Manor had seen many hard times through it's six generations of existence, the present time was one for the records.

No matter how hard anyone tried Gotham City was still a dark place. It never seemed to fully recover from the loss of Thomas and Martha Wayne. But when help finally did come, local Gothamites cast him out and labeled him as a dangerous vigilante. Unfortunately, they could never see all the great things he was doing to fix the city he loves. People lived in fear for so long that they began to feel that good no longer existed in the world, and when Batman tried to change their minds, they turned their back on him. Sure he was doing his job and throwing all the bad guys into Arkham Asylum, but it was never enough. There was always someone else who needed rescuing.

Arkham Asylum is always worse than how someone describes it. If anyone is ever granted a one-way ticket to a padded cell, they must have done some pretty bad things. Inmates consisted of criminals, murderers, rapists, mob bosses, and anyone else who ever committed a crime. Thanks to Batman, Robin and Batgirl, many of these inmates are permanent residents. To ensure the protection of the innocent people, Arkham is located on it's own private island in the Narrows with hi-tech security systems and guards on twenty-four hour watches. Unfortunately, Gotham's modern day society had grown accustomed to Arkham's presence while trying to ignore the big, ugly eye sore.

The piercing cold managed to break through the giant bricks of Wayne Manor on this October night. As it entered the bedroom of Bruce Wayne, the wind forced chills down his spine as he slept. The unbearable cold only intensified the feelings his dream was giving him. Actually, it was more of a nightmare and less of a dream.

He had experienced it before. He knew that he had dreamt this before, but he couldn't remember when. He couldn't shake the uncomfortable sense of familiarity. It was nighttime and raining. He could clearly tell that he was standing in a cemetery and dressed in his Batman suit. Bruce's double life had really started to take a recognizable toll on him and he concluded that the dreams came as a package deal. There was a young woman, somewhere around the age of eighteen or so. She had been laying on the ground of the cemetery fifteen feet from where he was standing. Through the dense fog, he was able to see that she was bleeding, but when he tried to approach her, he was not able to move. The silence was broken by crying and murmuring of another person. A woman, Bruce realized, someone he knew. He couldn't place her face, but knew he had seen her before.

As he continued to struggle unsuccessfully against the invisble restraints that prohibited him from moving, a voice came from the distance. Bruce was unable to make out what it was saying, but it made the weeping woman cry harder than before, while the young girl's body remained unmoving.

"You did this!" she said to him. "It's your fault! How could you?!"

The next thing he knew, everything went black.

Bruce woke up with beads of sweat on his forehead and his sheets on the floor. The quickly glanced around his bedroom and was relieved it was morning. Glad to see the sun, he opened his curtains, inhaled deeply, and headed off towards the bathroom.

'It was just a dream', he kept telling himself. 'An incredibly vivid, disturbing dream.'

As he went through his morning routine, Bruce couldn't get the weeping woman's face out of his head. He knew her, that was for sure, but he didn't know who she was. He started calling her his 'mystery woman' who was apparently very angry at him for something he didn't remember doing. He would never hurt someone and leave them.

Shaking his head and trying to get his mind off it, Bruce swiped his suit jacket off of his bed and headed downstairs for breakfast.

When he reached the bottom of the grand staircase that morning, Bruce was greeted by his friends Dick and Alfred's niece, Barbara. Alfred Pennyworth was Bruce's butler and best friend and had been there for all of Bruce's life. He was appointed by Thomas, Bruce's father, to take care of what he treasured most in the world: his family.

Alfred reluctantly supported Bruce in his idea to save Gotham from itself disguised as Batman. After seeing how successful Batman was becoming, Alfred's opinion soon changed. He could not understand how Gotham could love Bruce Wayne, but not Batman. Alfred felt that the city simply had to give Batman a chance.

By chance, Dick Grayson and Bruce had met a few years ago. Dick was a part of the Flying Grayson's, a famous family of acrobats who starred in the Gotham Circus. Unfortunately, Dick's family was murdered by Harvey Dent, also known as Two-Face, during one of their performances. Being the good person he is, Bruce took Dick in and provided for him. In Bruce's eyes, Dick will always be the damaged, distraught, do-good little brother he always wanted. Once Dick figured out Bruce's secret, he begged Bruce to let him team up with him. After Dick vowed vengeance for his family's death, Bruce welcomed him to fight by his side.

Barbara came to Wayne Manor almost one year after Dick. When she heard that her uncle had fallen ill, she intended to take him away. She soon realized that Bruce and Dick's partnership was falling apart so she introduced herself as their new sidekick. After she proved herself useful during combat, the trio became the greatest partnership a needy city could never ask for.

"Good morning, Bruce," Barbara said with a yawn.

"Good morning," he replied without looking up from the losing fight with his tie. "How is everyone?"

"Fine," Dick answered as he got up from the couch. "You don't look so hot."

"Thanks," Bruce said as he walked aimlessly into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Master Wayne," Alfred greeted him with a smile.

"Mornin', Alfred," Bruce responded. He had given up all hope to ever form a decent knot in his tie. As he reluctantly picked up the sports section of the Gotham Globe, Alfred asked, "Are you feeling alright? You look very pale."

"Everyone has such nice things to say this morning," Bruce said, finally making eye contact with his three friends.

"Hey," Barbara said. "I didn't say anything critical. You know I love you, Bruce."

"Yeah," he said, "I know."

"Maybe you should stay home today," Alfred suggested.

"I'm fine," Bruce said, a little annoyed. "Don't worry about me." He hated when they fussed over him.

"Maybe last night was too much for your old body to handle," Dick joked as he poured himself another cup of coffee.

"No, Dick, I don't think so," Bruce defended. "I'm not as old as you think."

The night before, Bruce, Dick and Barbara were out until two in the morning on their usual after-dinner patrol. After sustaining the usual beating and mischevious civilians, Bruce had found it hard to keep up with his partners. He somehow managed to fight back anyway, when all he really wanted was to go home to his bed.

After they finished breakfast, Alfred started cleaning up the dishes, Dick and Barbara left the kitchen, leaving Bruce behind. He had to get something off his chest before he even thought about going into work.

"Hey Alfred," he asked quietly.

"Yes, Mast Wayne," he replied.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course. You know you can always confide in me," Alfred said with a small smile that Bruce returned.

"Well, I've been having some weird dreams lately," Bruce confessed, "and they have been bothering me. I don't know whether I should ignore them or not."

Alfred did not respond right away. Instead, he looked at Bruce long and hard, as if he was trying to read his mind. Finally, he asked, "what does your heart tell you?"

There was another pause. Bruce really had no idea what to say. Alfread really wasn't one who usually spoke in such a way, but then Bruce realized that he might have a point.

"I guess," he said, "that it's warning me. But it doesn't make any sense. I don't know any women who have teenage daughters or close relatives. I mean, yeah, there's Selena, Chase, Julie...But who knows." Bruce was starting to regret having brought up the subject.

"Vicky?" Alfred suggested. There was no way Bruce could have forgotten about Vicky. He loved her.

"She has a teenage daughter?" Bruce asked.

"I'm not sure," Alfred answered, "but you never know."

Shaking his head, Bruce said, "Well I doubt I am dreaming about Vicky. I haven't seen her in a long time. When we were together, things were different. I was different."

"Do you think she'd hate you for being different?", Alfred asked.

Bruce had no answer for him. As he got up and headed for the door, he juggled the possibility that Alfred had hit the nail on the head.

The rest of the day pressed on as normal. Bruce went to work, attended the necessary meetings, came home and decided to head down to the Bat Cave. Dick and Barbara were there too, but they did not bother him. It was as if they could sense that something was bothering him. They both knew that if Bruce needed their help, that he would ask for it.

Bruce sat in the large, comfortable chair in front of the Bat-computer. He found himself staring up at the huge, blank screen unable to keep his mind off Vicky. He'd spent his day trying to match her face with the woman from his dream, but to no prevail. It started to feel that the harder he tried to see her face, the less he could remember.

Bruce knew that his computer could access information about Vicky in a heartbeat, but he was still hesitant. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know where she was and maybe have to confront her about what he had dreamt about.

Vicky had learned about Bruce's life the hard way. She was one of the few who experienced it. When Vicky got too close to Bruce, their relationship almost cost them both their lives. It was difficult for Bruce to tell her the truth because deep down, he really loved her and wanted to protect her. Bruce's hesitance and fear caused her more pain than necessary, and he felt sorry for doing so.

It was an hour later when Bruce heard Dick calling him for dinner. He hadn't even realized that Dick and Barbara had left the BatCave and wondered how long he had been alone. They had been quiet while they tinkered with the equipment and left Bruce to think. Neither Dick nor Barbara would admit it, but they knew that something was bothering their friend.

Dinner went by quickly and quietly. The silence was deafening which made everyone feel awkward. The dinner table is usually full of laughter and interesting discussions. But tonight was different. Dick and Barbara knew that Bruce wouldn't say anything, and they weren't going to press the matter. While they exchanged concerned looks, Bruce kept his eyes down, pushing his food around his plate, clearly avoiding the subject.

The awkwardness of dinner finally passed and Bruce insisted to help Alfred clean up. It was usual for Barbara to help her uncle while Bruce and Dick attended the BatCave, but no one argued when Bruce started clearing off the table. Both Alfred and Bruce were in the kitchen when Dick turned to Barbara and said, "I dunno. He's starting to scare me."

"What do you mean?" Barbara pressed.

"I've never seen him act like this," Dick admitted. "It's like he's lost or something."

"Yeah, I've noticed it too," Barbara agreed. "Do you think maybe we should ask..."

"No, oh no," Dick put up a hand to stop her. "I don't think that's a good idea. If he wants to talk to us, he will."

Barbara nodded in agreement and followed Dick downstairs to the BatCave.

While in the kitchen, unable to hear what his friends are saying about him, Bruce asked Alfred about Vicky.

"Alfred," Bruce started, "I've been thinking a lot about what you said this morning about Vicky and my dream."

"I'm glad I could help you," Alfred replied with a smile.

"Yeah," Bruce said as he continued drying the plate in his hands. "I think you might be right."

"That's a relief," Alfred said as he handed Bruce another plate. "I hope that you will let me know how everything turns out."

Bruce returned the gentle smile and they finished their after-dinner chores in silence. Glancing at the microwave clock, Bruce let out a small yawn and couldn't believe how tired he was. It was only eight-thirty and all he wanted was his bed. He said goodnight to Alfred, never acknowledged Dick and Barbara in the BatCave, and headed upstairs for bed.

Bruce fell into another deep sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Within minutes, he was experiencing the same dream as the night before, with only minor details having been changed.

Through the thick fog and annoying rain, Bruce saw that he was standing at the foot of his parents' grave, dressed in a black dress suit. The annoying drizzle drenched him to his bones and sent an uneasy chill down his spine. Just like before, when he tried to move, he couldn't. It was like an invisible force was blocking his path.

Bruce was silent for a moment, and then the screaming started again. He realized that it was closer and louder than the night before and sounded an awful lot like Vicky's voice. He hesitated before trying to move again, and when he did, he took off running towards the screaming. Many years of crime fighting and watching from the shadows told Bruce to do only one thing: save the girl at all costs.

He ran through the lifting fog and spray of rain, in search of the screaming woman, but was unsuccessful. He arrived back at his parents' grave, slightly confused.

"Bruce, how could you?" came the woman's voice again through tears. "You did this! You are the only one to blame for it!"

The voice frightened him at first, but then he saw her. At first, Bruce noticed the young girl on the ground, unnaturally still and covered in blood. The woman on her knees beside her was surely the source of the screaming accusations. Bruce started to make his way towards the woman, who he clearly identified as Vicky, but he couldn't move. Whatever the cause of this dream was, it enjoyed messing around with Bruce's head.

In Bruce's perifial vision, he could see a figure approaching the three of them from the darkness. He was only able to see the figure's dark hood and gray eyes. Somehow, he was not able to look away, and forgot that Vicky and the girl were there with him. Bruce started to get the feeling that the figure was reading his mind and trying to uncover his deepest, darkest secrets.

The in said to him, "You were never meant to be happy! Broken souls never heal!"

_You've read it, now review it...please? Open to any and all critiques._


	2. Life Without You

**A/N:** Sorry it took so long for me to update. I had a little bit of writer's block, but I'm better now and so is this chapter. I know it is really long, but I think it is worth it.

**A/N: **It came to my attention that there was a mistake in from chapter one. The last line is a type-o. It is supposed to read like this:

_The it said to him, "You were never meant to be happy! Broken souls never heal!"_

And now, without further delay...

Two

Life Without You

Before Bruce could respond to the dark figure in front of him, he woke up in a cold sweat, shivering and breathing heavy. Some part of the nightmare lingered with him as he noticed he was joined by the familiar faces of Alfred, Barbara and Dick. Alfred and Dick were standing at the foot of his bed, while Barbara was sitting beside him, holding his hand. All three of them were staring at him with the same concerned look. Bruce was confused about their presence and returned an awkward stare.

"Calm down," Barbara said. "It's okay. We're here. Why were you screaming? You woke up the entire city."

Bruce didn't reply at first because he was still confused. He thought about it for a second, but came up with nothing. He still wasn't ready to talk about his dreams.

"Yeah man," Dick said. "I was dreaming about this girl I met at the bar the other night and we were about to-"

"Dick!" Barbara stopped him with a threatening glare.

"Oh, sorry," he said. "Anyway, it sounded like someone was hurting you."

"I, uh," Bruce said. He had never been so confused. He couldn't have been screaming out loud when he wasn't screaming in the dream. He didn't know what do say, so he finally asked, "What?"

"What's the matter? Is something bothering you?" Barbara asked.

"I had a nightmare," Bruce shrugged. "No big deal."

"Everyone has nightmares, but not everyone screams like that," Dick said. "It sounded like you were dying or something."

"No, nothing like that," Bruce said with a shake of his head. "This was different. Like a warning about something that is going to happen. I have no idea why, but I think the woman in my dream is Vicky, an old girlfriend of mine."

"The photographer from _The Globe_?" Barbara asked.

"Yeah, why?" Bruce said.

"I've seen her work. She's really talented," Barbara added.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Dick agreed. "I remember you mentioning her. Do you think you still love her?"

The truth was that Bruce never stopped loving Vicky. She was his first love. He had loved after her, but it was never the same. Bruce never forgot her because it was too hard to forget someone who had such a strong impact on his life. He came up with countless excuses why their relationship didn't work, when he knew he was just lying about how his heart felt.

Ignoring Dick's question, Bruce said, "I keep seeing her and a teenage girl on the ground in a cemetery. The girl is hurt and Vicky is crying. I try to run to comfort her and help, but something stops me everytime. It's a dark figure, someone dressed in a black hood with gray eyes. It's blaming me for what happened. Keeps saying that I was never meant to be happy." Bruce decided to leave out the part about the broken soul. He only did so because he had no idea what it meant.

Barbara, Dick and Alfred just stared back at him. For the first time in their lives, they didn't know what to say. It hurt them to realize that they might be slowly losing him to something as powerful as his own mind. Bruce knew that they couldn't help him, but if he told them what was going on, they just might acting weird around him.

"I think that the best thing for you, Master Bruce," Alfred finally said, "is some rest. You look simply exhausted and your mind needs to rest."

Bruce was too tired to argue, so he only nodded.

Alfred, Barbara and Dick left Bruce's room after making him swear that he was feeling okay. His color seemed drained and he looked nervous. Bruce reassured them that he was fine and told them not to worry. Before exiting, Barbara softly kissed Bruce on the forehead to see if he was running a fever. When she didn't find one, she turned away and walked back to her room.

While Alfred, Barbara, and Dick were in Bruce's bedroom, a man sat in his car by the front gate of Wayne Manor. He did so on this night, just like the nights before. He had his gray eyes focused on the second story of the structure before him, specifically on the room he assumed to be Bruce's. When the light came on as Bruce discovered his friends beside him, the stranger's curiousity heightened. He usually made quite an impression on people, but never got that kind of reaction before. After the light finally went out, he gave a malevolent smile as he started up his car. Before pulling away, he turned his head up towards Bruce's bedroom and whispered, "Sweet dreams."

As the sun rose the next morning, photographer Vicky Vale walked quietly out of her apartment. While walking to the corner, she couldn't help but remember the first time she walked her daughter, Elizabeth, to the bus stop on her first day at school. It had been years ago, but she still remembered how she felt as the bus pulled away and her litter girl waved good-bye from the window. Similing at the memory, Vicky climbed into a taxi and headed off to work. Now that Elizabeth was in high school and got a ride from her boyfriend Danny each morning, she no longer walked to the corner with her mom and waited.

Shaking her head from the memory, Vicky soon realized that her taxi was stuck in the morning rush hour traffic. Although Vicky knew that she was going to be late, she wasn't worried because her boss, Alexander Knox, was a friend of hers and wouldn't penalize her for something out of her control.

As the traffic slowly crawled through Gotham's streets, Vicky found it difficult to keep her mind off someone. For the past three days, it had been hard for her not to think about him. It had been almost seventeen years ago when she had met him and fell in love. His face kept popping into her head and she couldn't seem to get him out. Vicky finally realized that she had to get control of her thoughts after she saw all the little hearts she drew on her notepad during that morning's staff meeting. She had more important things to worry about.

After lunch, Vicky was concerned that she was still thinking about him. She didn't mind day dreaming about what life would be like if they were together, but it still made her feel uneasy. She always thought that if she kept telling herself that things wouldn't work out between them, that her feelings for him would disappear. Unfortunately, they never did and each new day became harder than the one before.

The conversation they had about their relationship kept replaying in Vicky's head. She stood across from him in white with a face full of concern and fear. He stared back at her with a darkness in his eyes. She could remember feeling the anger and surprise in his voice.

_"I just gotta know..." Vicky said, "if we're gonna try to love each other."_

_"I'd like to," he replied. "But he's out there right now. And I gotta go to work."_

Just like that he was out of her life. They saw each other again later on that night and after he saved her, Vicky realized that the feelings she had for him were far beyond what he had for her. The difficult position she created for herself contradicted with who they are, ultimately meaning that things would never be the way they should be; Vicky, Bruce and their child.

Vicky picked up her notepad and returned to her desk with her head still in the clouds. After she had learned about who Bruce was, she thought about how it would be if they lived together. Everytime Vicky heard news about Wayne Enterprises or Batman, she felt an enormous amount of happiness and pride. But she was still afraid that he might have forgotten about her. It was one of the reasons why she hadn't spoken to him in so long.

Later that night, Vicky could hear laughter coming from inside her apartment. Sure enough, she found Elizabeth and Danny on the living room couch watching a funny movie.

"Hi Mom," Elizabeth said as she walked into the kitchen. "How was your day?"

"It was good, and yours?" Vicky replied.

"Ma, it was school. How do you think it was?" Elizabeth said.

"Okay, I gotcha," Vicky said as she started dinner. "Danny, would you like to stay for dinner?"

"That sounds great, Ms. Vale," Danny answered from the living room. "Let me just check with my parents."

In the kitchen, Elizabeth started helping her mother with dinner. When she noticed that her mother was acting a little weird, she asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, honey. Why?" Vicky said.

"You seem a little happier than usual," Elizabeth said. "That's all."

"Well I was outside all day," Vicky confessed. "Allie keeps sending me to the park to take more and more shots of the new sculptures and fountain. It's getting kind of boring, but it's better than being in the office all day."

"Yeah, I guess that's true," Elizabeth agreed. "But maybe he's saving your skills for something better down the road. Ya never know."

"It's alright with my folks," Danny said as he entered the kitchen. "What are we havin'?"

"Chicken and rice with salad," Vicky said as she placed it on the table.

"Sounds good," Danny said.

As they ate their dinner, Vicky began to feel envious of her daughter's relationship with Danny. She saw how they interacted together and heard how they spoke to each other and Vicky remembered the similar relationship she and Bruce had all those years ago. Although Vicky knew that she could talk to her daughter about anything, she didn't expect Elizabeth to understand how much her heart was hurting for the man she loved. Everytime Vicky looked at her daughter, she saw him. She had his eyes, his mouth, his hair, but her mother's personality.

Vicky never mentioned Bruce to her daughter at all. As far as Elizabeth knew, her father had gone away a long time ago, before she was born. Vicky knew that it wasn't the whole truth, but she didn't know what to say when her four-year-old asked. She knew that Elizabeth remained curious about her father, but the timing never seemed to be right. Vicky never really had a good enough reason to keep them away from each other, but she always felt that Bruce would be angry with her if he ever found out.

As Danny and Elizabeth helped Vicky set the table, Vicky asked, "So what were you doing with my daughter?"

"I think you mean, 'what _weren't_ you doing with my daughter?'", Danny said.

"Very funny, Danny," Elizabeth said. "Mom, you know we weren't doing anything. And we promise we won't until we are married."

"Oh my God!" Vicky said dramatically as she clasped her hands over her heart and smiled.

Elizabeth and Danny had been going out for a little over a year at this point. They loved each other with a passion and spent almost every waking hour with each other. He was the smart, athletic, handsome guy that every girl wants to be with, but he chose the bright, outgoing cheerleader. They always joke with Vicky about how they are going to run away and get married one weekend, but then remind her that they'd send her a postcard from their honeymoon. After a few months, Vicky was happy that Elizabeth finally had a man in her life and knew that Bruce would approve.

Dinner went by as normal. Elizabeth and Danny told Vicky, who was listening intently, about their day at school. Although it appeared as if she was interested in what they were saying, Vicky's mind was still on Bruce. She wanted him to be a part of their lives and make her feel the way she used to.

"Mom, you have got to see the new bag Elena got," Elizabeth said. "It's beautiful. She got it for her birthday from Ethan.""Really," Vicky said. "That was nice of him."

"Are you hinting, Liz?" Danny asked.

"No, not at all," Elizabeth said with a smile.

Danny headed home around nine o'clock. Vicky had left him and Elizabeth alone after dinner. She kept smiling to herself because she knew that her daughter's life with Danny was going to be the one she'd always dreamed of.

Around midnight, Vicky found herself lying awake in bed, thinking again. She had been trying to fall asleep for a while, but to no prevail. She decided to go into her closet and get an old shoebox that she labeled "Pieces of Us". No one else knew about the box and what she kept inside it, not even Elizabeth, and they told each other everything. The box contained things of Vicky's past; specifically her past with Bruce. There were certain things from their relationship that she just had to keep with her. There was no way she could ever let go of them.

Placing the box on her bed, Vicky sat Indian-style at the head of the bed. She gently opened the lid, and stared and the measures she buried within it. The objects might have been from a long time ago, but the emotions they held for Vicky remained fresh in her memory.

The first thing she took out of the box was a piece of the crashed Bat Plane that the Joker had shot down with Bruce inside. As Vicky held it, she remembered the sudden mixed feeling of anxiety and fear when she discovered that Bruce was not in the pilot's seat. Then she remembered being relieved later on when he came back and saved her.

The next object she pulled out was the perfume tray that Bruce had been wearing a few days before the plane crash. The Joker had stormed into her apartment upset about Vicky leaving with Batman. Bruce had already been there, trying to explain to her why he hadn't called her back after their special night together. She remembered that he tried to tell her the truth and how hard it was for him because of how special she was to him. Vicky also remembered how angry she was at him for not calling. She never gave Bruce the chance to explain himself and she regretted it. She felt a great deal of remorse because she loved him, then and now, and he deserved to explain himself. If she hadn't been so stubborn, she would have saved herself a lot of grief and would probably still be with him. She caressed her fingers gently over the hole from the bullet the Joker shot at Bruce. If he hadn't been wearing it, who knows where she would be. Vicky suddenly felt her eyes fill up with tears, but forced them away.

The last thing she picked out of the box was a roll of film. She never had it developed. Vicky smiled as she remembered hiding it from Bruce in her dress so he couldn't take it from her with a swift move of his hand. Maybe, one day, she would develop them and keep them safe within the box.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Mom?" Elizabeth's voice came from the other side of the door.

"Just a second," Vicky said as she jumped up and returned the box to it's hidden place in her closet.

After doing so, Vicky opened the door and saw her daughter standing in the hallway with her arms crossed over her chest.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Vicky asked.

"Mom, I'm not three anymore," Elizabeth said. "You can stop calling me 'sweetie'."

"Okay baby," Vicky said. "What's the matter?

Rolling her eyes at her mother's other petname for her, Elizabeth said, "Why are you still up? It's really late."

"I was reading," Vicky lied. "I couldn't sleep and I just figured it might help."

"Oh, okay," Elizabeth said. "Goodnight, then."

"Goodnight, Liz," Vicky said as she kissed her daughter on the forehead and turned back into her bedroom.

"Mom?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes," Vicky answered.

"I love you," Elizabeth said as she hugged her mom.

"I love you too," Vicky said, returning the gesture.

_Good? Bad? Okay? Please review. Thanks to those of you who are reading and adding my story to your alert or favorite list. _


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